Reducing the risk of fires on Waste Sites

The Environment Agency, with the help of BRE, has just published a new Fire Prevention Plan (FPP) guidance document as part of a waste site operator permit. It requires strict limits on waste pile sizes and how they are stored in order to reduce the risk of fires. The guidance was developed following close collaboration with the Environment Agency and utilising BRE’s unique knowledge and experience of self-heating, which is a common cause of many major waste site fires. Self-heating test data from a number of different materials found on waste sites was used to underpin the guidance in the FPP. As well as working closely with the Environment Agency, BRE has been at the forefront in developing these techniques from many years of research and has worked with a number of waste site operators to reduce their risks and ensure they meet the legislative requirements.

A new one day BRE training course on the FPP guide aims to help ensure the submitted fire prevention plan meets the requirements of the Environment Agency and provides details on a range of techniques and tests that could be used to demonstrate an acceptable level of fire safety on a site which may not strictly meet the limits set out in the FPP guide.